Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter yesterday in a letter told the USOC that the “Philadelphia region is ‘enthusiastically’ embracing the prospect of bidding on and hosting the Olympics and Paralympics in 2024,” according to Lubrano & Warner of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. The USOC in February “extended invitations to the 25 biggest U.S. cities, plus 10 others that believe they have the right stuff to host.” The budget “would be $3 billion, not including construction costs.” Nutter's Press Secretary, Mark McDonald, yesterday said the city over the next few years will create a committee and "collect regional partners of political and business leaders to mount the bid." The USOC will “first decide on several U.S. finalists, then pick a single candidate to compete for the backing” of the IOC. Philadelphia was “among five cities that made presentations to the USOC in 2006 for the 2016 games” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 4/23).